Samuel Singer is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law at the University of Ottawa. Professor Singer's research interests focus on tax administration and dispute resolution, the regulation of non-profits and charities, and critical tax theory. He is also a scholar and advocate on trans legal issues and frequently presents his research to members of the legal profession.
Professor Singer is currently studying taxpayer remedies in the Canadian tax system, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). His ongoing research includes studying the modernization of non-profit and charity law and applying a critical tax policy perspective to major tax policy issues. Professor Singer’s previous tax research topics include tax remission orders, evidentiary privilege for tax professionals, critical analysis of directors’ liability case law, the tax treatment of trans medical expenses, and charity law reform.
Before academia, Professor Singer worked as the Legal Information Coordinator at the Centre for Community Organizations in Montreal. He articled with the National Judicial Institute, clerked at the Tax Court of Canada, and practiced as a tax lawyer with Stikeman Elliott LLP in Montreal. Professor Singer went on to establish his own law practice, working in tax law, charity and non-profit law, and trans law. He is a member of both the Québec and Ontario Bars.
In trans legal studies, Professor Singer was a guest editor of a special issue of the Canadian Journal of Law and Society on the theme, On the Margins of Trans Legal Change (2020). His article, “Trans Rights Are Not Just Human Rights: Legal Strategies for Trans Justice”, was awarded the Canadian Law and Society Association English Article Prize in 2021 and cited by the Supreme Court of Canada in Hansman v. Neufeld, 2023 SCC 14. Other contributions include a chapter on trans competent lawyering, reports for the Canadian Human Rights Commission, and an article on preventing misgendering in Canadian courts.
A long-time advocate for trans people, Professor Singer worked at the trans advocacy group, Action Santé Travesti(e)s et Transexuelles du Québec (ASTTeQ) before law school. He later served as the supervisor of the Trans Legal Clinic in Montreal from 2014 to 2017. Professor Singer is also a co-plaintiff in the Quebec trans rights case, Centre for Gender Advocacy c. Attorney General of Quebec, 2021 QCCS 191. In 2022, Professor Singer received the Canadian Bar Association’s Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGIC) Hero Award.
Professor Singer greatly enjoys sharing his enthusiasm for law and policy through teaching. In 2021, he received the Ian Kerr Award for Excellence in Teaching for the English Language Program and a teaching award from the Association étudiante de Common Law Student Society (AÉCLSS). Prior to joining the University of Ottawa, as a member of the Faculty of Law at Thompson Rivers University in British Columbia, Professor Singer received teaching awards for both the 2017–2018 and 2019–2020 academic years.
Professor Singer teaches or has taught Taxation, Droit fiscal, Taxation Policy, Business Organizations, and Trans People and the Law.